The Eyes are the Mirror of the Soul
by SweetnSour246
Summary: Set after the war, mostly DH compliant, EWE. Her eyes are the color in his life, but he abandons her. Unbeknownst to him, he's permanently tied himself to her. Will she let him back into her life?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So I haven't decided if this will be a longer story or a quick short story, but I guess we will see how things go. This chapter is the set up for the main plot of the story. I'll give you a cookie if you guess what's coming! This fic is mostly DH compliant, but I will be making a few minor alterations that you will see in the next couple of chapters. But the war and Harry killing Voldy still happens with the Battle of Hogwarts and such. This chapter is set right before Dumbledore dies and Harry sets off to get the horcruxes. Hope you enjoy, please leave a comment or two.

* * *

The tears were uncontrollable now. As each one spilled down his cheek he began to shake violently. He was going to die. His parents were going to die. He was such a fool. How had he gotten into such a mess? It started as innocent awe, a desire to please his father and to be worthy to the Dark Lord. But as he looked back on it now, it was a trap. He was drowning in service to the Dark Lord. Drowning in his tears. He had a front-row ticket to his own demise. He wondered if dying was as painful as the agony of anticipation.

He couldn't fix the cabinet. Not that it mattered, because was pretty sure he couldn't complete the talk that followed. Murder. In cold blood. It wasn't as if he didn't loathe Dumbledore. The man was off his rocker. But Draco couldn't kill him. He couldn't take someone's life. He wanted so much to disengage from his conscience. To feel his blood pump with pure hate, to lack an ounce of mercy, of morality. To just kill—to murder—blindly. But he wasn't his father. He wasn't the Dark Lord. He wasn't a worthy Death Eater. He was a fool, struggling to fit into the place carved out for him in the world.

No, he couldn't repair the bloody cabinet. No matter how many books he consulted, including the darkest ones found in the restricted section. No matter how many hours he spent charming, transfiguring, and cursing the cabinet. No matter how much he wanted to secure his place in the Dark Lord's family. And because of it, he was going to lose his family. His real family. His life. Everything he'd ever known. Even though his parents were cold and had brought him up to be the same, he still had emotions, deep down in the pits of his soul. Now he was staring death in the face. And he couldn't be cold anymore. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to fail. He was a coward.

He was soaked in his own tears. He sat alone in the Room of Requirement, sobbing uncontrollably. He had finally accepted his fate. Failure. Punishment. Loss. Death. What was he going to tell his mother? His father? Maybe he should just wait for the Dark Lord to seek him out himself. But why delay the inevitable? He could just be upfront with Him. The less time he had to ponder his fate, the better.

Suddenly there was a noise. A screech of a door. How could that be? This was his room. How could anyone have found this room? His room. A room needed to perform lots of spells on a very specific kind of cabinet. The sound of footsteps grew closer, but Draco was paralyzed in his anguish and panic. Blurrily, a person materialized in front of him. He could make out a large brown shape for the head and a big pink shirt. She was standing next to the cabinet. His cabinet. His broken cabinet.

"Malfoy?"

He said nothing. There's no way she could know what kind of cabinet she was standing next to. Nor could she know he was trying to fix it. He was simply sitting on the floor, drowning himself in his tears.

Her indistinct outline came closer.

"Malfoy? What are you doing? What's wrong?"

Her voice sounded familiar. The hint of bossiness gave him the necessary clue. Hermione Granger had found him in his weakest, most vulnerable state. He was slouched pathetically on the floor in front of Hermione fucking Granger. Could this get any worse?

"Go away Mudbood."

She stood there, apparently torn between concern and incense. After a few motionless moments, she sat down next to him. He ignored her. Stupid Gryffindor. He continued to shake and cry until his mind went fuzzy and everything was dark.

* * *

He woke up dazed and confused, with a pillow under his head and a blanket covering his body. His clothes were dry and he could feel warmth coming from behind. As he groggily moved, he realized it was a person, cuddled next to him. The person's arm was wrapped around his shoulder. Abruptly, he remembered his fate. He had failed. And he began to sob once more and his thoughts became muddled.

His tremors woke up the person next to him, who pulled him closer and whispered soothing words in his ear. He rolled over and buried his head his consoler's body. His sense of smell was awoken by the lavender emanating from the person—the girl. His brain told him to feel. His hands moved across, around the girl. Her skin was silky smooth, her shirt a scratchy wool. His fingertips trailed upwards where he found her wet lips and small nose. He reached around to run his hands through her hair. He inhaled her scent deeply. It was intoxicating.

She stroked his head gently, soothing his trembles. He moved his face toward hers, touching her lips with his. At first, he brushed his lips against hers, but she didn't respond. She stopped moving her hand across his hair. He kissed her. He gripped her waist. He deepened the kiss. She finally responded. His tongue swept across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth ever so slightly to let him in. But he was shaken. Broken. He forced her mouth agape with his tongue and began to run his hands down her front. He kissed her so hard their teeth clattered. But she didn't stop him—she responded to his force with eagerness.

He tore her sweater over her head and pushed her bra up so he could access her breasts. The skin on skin contact was enthralling. He pressed his head to her chest, kissing her, touching her. She pushed his shirt up so she could run her nails down his back. Their panting was the only sound in the blackened room. He unbuttoned her pants and pushed them down with her knickers and felt her wetness. His cock was throbbing—he could almost hear the pounding in his ears. She opened her legs to let him feel her. He was grasping her so hard that she was surely to bruise. But he couldn't think—all he could do was feel her, feel his need. He needed a release. A moment of clarity. A moment to cease to exist.

He unzipped his pants and released his penis. Instantly, he was deep inside her, falling into a rhythm of violent, desperate thrusts. In the haze of his mind, he could her the sound of bodies slapping together. His cock brutally penetrated her relentlessly. Primal need pushed him forward. He was coming. Within seconds his cock was pumping his seed, the throbbing ringing in his ears.

She sighed quietly. At once, he was exhausted and drifted back into a deep slumber.

* * *

He jerked awake. His heart was pounding and he quickly sat up. He had the most bizarre dream…

He turned his head to the side to see Hermione Granger curled up next to him, naked and covered in bruises and bite marks.

"No," he thought. "NO, this can't be true." Panic shot down his spine. His memory from the previous night was fuzzy. He remembered the cabinet. He remembered accepting his doom. He remembered… someone finding him in hysterics…

"Oh god." He began to breathe heavily. Hermione Granger had found him. Had he raped her? No. That couldn't be it, could it? She was sleeping peacefully next to him, a small smile on her lips. No, he couldn't have raped her. Should he wake her and ask? No. He decided it was best to flee the scene before the situation could worsen. Fuelled by adrenaline, he pulled his trousers on and fixed his shirt. After grabbing his wand, he gave Granger one last look and ran out of the Room of Requirement.

* * *

He looked up from his plate of eggs and bacon and she was staring at him from across the Great Hall. They held each other's gaze for a moment, her green piercing his gray. And then they looked back down at their plates. It had been a week since his _encounter_, if you will, with Granger. And he had been avoiding her like the plague. This was partially because he was afraid he'd violated her and partially because he was afraid he couldn't control himself around her. He didn't see color anymore. His days were shades of gray, his mind was mush. He didn't feel much besides his anguish. But sometimes they would meet eyes and her emerald eyes would shock his brain, but only for a moment. She hadn't attempted to talk to him. She just looked at him. With her green eyes. The only color in his world. He'd catch her gaze in potions or they'd meet eyes in the hall. But no words. This eased his mind a bit, for if he had assaulted her, she surely would've hunted him down to hex his balls off by now. But she still scared him. Her green eyes scared him.

* * *

He anxiously needed solitude. He needed to escape his housemates, his classmates, everyone at Hogwarts. He didn't want to go back there, but he couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't take people and having to interact with them. So, he went _there_. As he entered, everything was as he left it. _It_ was still broken. He was still broken. But as he rounded the corner, he saw her, sitting on the ground, right where they had… fucked. She looked up and her green eyes assaulted him. They stared into him, penetrated him, like he had penetrated her on that very spot. They said nothing for what seemed to be hours. Just stared.

"Are you afraid of me?" she asked, cutting into the silence. How could she know?

"No," he responded. He didn't break her gaze. She stood up and walked up to face him. He was quite a bit taller than she, and he bowed his head to continue to meet her eyes. The emerald was overpowering him. His mind began to disengage and he thoughts to relax.

"Then fuck me again," she whispered and his mouth was on hers within seconds.

* * *

They continued to meet like this. Never planning, never talking. But it kept happening. He was hooked on her. On her eyes. She was the escape. She was the drug. At first, they fucked violently and quickly. He could feel her need mixing with his. But as the meetings multiplied, they began to slow down. They explored each other's bodies, they relished in the moment. They gasped and moaned. But spoke no words.

One day, after their mutual release, he held her under him. "Why do you want this?" he asked. Her emerald orbs met his gray ones and she responded, "The same reason you do. To escape."

He rolled off her and began to clean himself up. She quickly dressed. Before she turned to leave, she put her hand on his chest and stared up at him with her lonely green eyes. There was a vulnerability that he'd never seen before.

"See you next time."

He felt his heart twinge.

* * *

Gradually, they began to verbalize their communication. At first she would ask him about his classes or quidditch. And he began to respond and even ask her questions in return. He learned her parents worked on peoples' teeth and that she, like him, had no siblings. He told her a bit about his childhood and a bit about books he enjoyed. But they never talked about the first _encounter_. Or the imminent war. Sometimes they slept in the room together, after a long night of passion. Her eyes captivated him, made him talk, made him stay with her. She helped him forget and that was what he needed. He no longer cared about blood, about the Dark Lord, or about school. He only wanted—needed her. He only cared about forgetting.

On their last _meeting_, she kissed him goodbye. And she mesmerized him with her green eyes.

He stood there and watched her leave. He didn't know why, but he was suddenly compelled to try the spell to activate the cabinet again. His brain told him it was futile, but nevertheless he walked over to the cabinet nonetheless and uttered the incantation.

There was a soft noise and he opened the door to find an apple, with a fresh bite taken out of it.

* * *

He had stopped going to the Room of Requirement. He had moved the cabinet to its appropriate location for the plan. He hadn't seen _her_ in weeks. She continued to stare at him in the Great Hall, during class, while passing in the hall. But he refused to look at her. He refused to see her emerald eyes gleaming up at him ever again.

* * *

He was making his way to the Great Hall for dinner after Snape had cornered him after potions class to talk about _it_. He demanded Draco let him do the job. But Draco refused. This was _his_ job, _his_ fight, _his_ struggle. And he pointed out that _he_ had fixed the cabinet. He had already defied everyone's expectations, including his own. No, he had told Snape to shove off more or less. This was _his_ judgment day.

As he began to climb the stairs, he was hit in the back with a stunning spell. He flopped onto the ground and felt himself be levitated into an empty classroom. His attacker laid him onto the table and quickly locked the door. Then, Hermione Granger materialized above his face, before his eyes. She pierced him, once again, with her green eyes.

"Why have you been avoiding me? You just stopped coming."

He continued to look up at her, unable to move. He felt her reverse the effects of the stunning spell and wiggled his limbs. He sat up and looked her in the eye.

"Look mudblood, don't make an ordeal out of this. Our _meetings_ are over."

"Over? _Over_? So you just woke up one day and decided you didn't want to see me any more? And you weren't going to inform me of this?"

"Well in a few words, yes." He stood up and began to walk out of the room. "Don't talk to me anymore, mudblood. Don't look at me, don't stare at me, or people will start to notice."

"Don't you dare walk out on me you selfish brat! Do I not have a say in any of this? I was there for you. I'm _always_ there for you. You told me you _needed_ me. YOU NEED ME." She was crying now. He could feel her at his back.

He turned around and looked down on her wet green eyes. "I lied to you, mudblood. I was using you. And I have no more use for you." He turned and unlocked the door with his wand.

"But… but…" she whispered while she sobbed.

"Granger, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER," he roared. "Stop babbling nonsense. There's a war coming. And we're on opposite sides, incase you haven't noticed. This can't continue anymore. It was a mistake."

She said nothing, and just looked at him with her enormous emerald eyes. Her eyes pleading were with him silently. But he knew it was best for both of them if this didn't go any further. He had felt his coldness return over the past few weeks. He was back in the game and _she_ couldn't be interfering. "Like I said, don't contact me again."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: All right folks, here's where it gets juicy and the plot thickens like jello in the fridge. Thanks to Heloise and IGOTEAMEADWARD (I'm a team Edwarder myself) for leaving a comment!. To the other folks who are too quiet to review, pleasepleaseplease take like 37.6452 seconds out of your time to comment. And if you don't know what to say, just tell me your favorite color or something. I'll be so happy! Also, if there are any of you good folks out there who'd like to beta this story, message me. I'm terrible at catching my own mistakes and there's at least a few more chapters left in this story at the minimum.

On with the show!

* * *

It was a dazzling, sunny day in the middle of June and Draco was meandering through Diagon Alley. He'd been cooped up in his office all day and decided to go out for lunch to enjoy the unusually pleasant weather. He sat outside at a café on the corner and leafed through the Daily Prophet as he munched on a turkey club. Usually he read the Prophet with his breakfast, but this morning he had to go to an early meeting with a business associate, so he had missed out on the day's news. He saw that the Wasps had overtaken Puddlemore United in last nights match.

"Excellent," he thought. He'd placed a hefty bet on Wimbourne. As he looked over the society section, he saw that the Ministry's celebration of the War's end was coming up in a few weeks. It would be the 4th anniversary of Voldemort's defeat. He quickly turned the page and pressed thoughts of the War out of his mind. It was far too nice of a day to look back on the regrets of his childhood.

He finished up his sandwich and paid for his meal. Deciding he could take the rest of the afternoon off work, since he was his own boss, he strolled down the street to Quality Quidditch Supplies. They had a new display up for the new edition of the Firebolt, which would be released in the coming month. Lately, he had been too busy with work to put in some quality flying time. But he promised himself he'd make more time to do so this summer and placed himself on the waitlist for the first shipment of new models. He was, after all, Draco Malfoy. He deserved the best life had to offer, especially in the broom department.

He made his way over to Flourish and Blotts to run another errand. He had recently invested in a new publishing company and he wanted to make sure they had received their copies of the highly anticipated adventure novel Shaggy Motter and the Centaur's Rock. The release date was set for tomorrow and the shop's celebratory event was sure to be pandemonium. As he walked inside, he was greeted by the manager, Marcus Belby, a former acquaintance of his from Hogwarts. Marcus had been in Ravenclaw and was a year above them, so they didn't have much of a history from their childhood. Nonetheless, he and Marcus had become amiable with Draco, as Draco was a regular patron of the Flourish and Blotts.

They exchanged pleasantries and Draco informed him that he had become the primary investor of the publisher for the new Shaggy Motter book. Marcus took him to the back to show him the inventory, which filled an entire, magically-expanded room. Marcus told him he had scheduled double the staff to work the midnight release party and that 1,500 people had already preordered the book. This was very good news for Draco; he had been unsure to invest in such an inexperienced company, but it seemed as if his investment would pay off nicely.

* * *

As he walked back out into the sunlight, he decided to head over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for a scoop of his favorite Florean specialty: coconut ice cream mixed with almonds and strawberries. As he rounded the corner, he noticed the small shop was crowded with customers, eager for a cool treat on this hot day. He didn't mind, since he'd taken the afternoon off. He had plenty of time.

As he waited in line, he watched the couple in front of him admonish their son about patience and moderation. The child was overly eager to get to the counter so he could get a "triple scoop of chocolate peanut butter with gummy bears and lemon drops!" Draco chuckled to himself. Children had such strange taste. Bizarre ice cream combinations and never any vegetables. He remembered as a boy himself, he would only eat his spaghetti without any sauce, just butter and parmesan cheese. His parents insisted that this was not the proper way to eat spaghetti, but he refused to eat any tomato-like substance. He had been a bit of a brat.

The line moved slowly, but Draco finally reached the counter. He saw they had his favorite flavor, coconut, in plentiful amounts. He also noticed a new case with special-edition Bertie Bott flavors. There were some appetizing flavors like raspberry, marshmallow, and strawberry mousse, but there were some interesting flavors as well, including bacon, centipede, and Worcestershire sauce. His nose scrunched up with repulsion as he read the last flavor, vomit. "Who in the bloody hell would eat that?" he wondered, right as a young bloke walked up next to him and demanded a vomit sundae topped with sprinkles and chocolate chips. Draco turned around to see his group of cronies, doubled over in laughter. "Hmm," he thought, "must be some kind of childish dare."

He handed the server three sickles and with his ice cream in hand, he turned to find a seat. Instantly, his gaze was met with another. Time came to a screeching halt. He knew those eyes. They were _her_ eyes. _Her_ deep green orbs had paralyzed him in the moment. His eyes focus on her face. Yep, that was _her_ alright. Their first encounter in four years.

After a few moments, his body unfroze, and he shook his head. She had looked away, visibly shaken, and was saying something to the person at the table with her. He recognized Scarhead instantly. His brow furrowed as she spoke frantically, slightly nodding her head in his direction. Potter put his hand on her arm and seemed to try and calm her.

But that wasn't all to this picture. There was someone else at that table with them. A small someone. He hadn't seen her at first, but now she had stood up in her chair. Her bushy blonde curls bouncedas she maneuvered around Granger and suddenly she was staring him right in the eye.

His blood ran cold.

He thought for a moment he was staring into a mirror. That little girl was piercing him with his own gray eyes.

But no, those couldn't be his eyes. His eyes were in his head of course.

She broke their gaze and turned to Granger to say something. He took this moment to look at her face. She had untamed white-blonde curls, flawless pale skin, and a slightly pointed nose. The resemblance was uncanny. Other than the unruly hair, that little girl looked just like a Malfoy.

But how could that be? He'd never met anyone who looked as striking a Malfoy other than his extended relations.

No.

No!

It couldn't be.

He hadn't seen _her_ in years! Four years!

Oh no.

Four years…

That girl couldn't be a day older than three. And a half. Maybe.

No.

No!

He was immobilized in this spot staring at their table. Hermione began gesturing hysterically and grabbing at her daughter. Harry said something and then started toward him as Granger toted the girl towards the door.

He suddenly sprang into motion, walking briskly toward the door as well. Potter turned and blocked his path.

"Don't even think about it Malfoy," he warned.

"Out of my way Potter," he growled back. He tried to move forward but Potter pushed him back.

"You're not going anywhere near them," he sneered.

"The hell I'm not!" he said more loudly. Potter said nothing but glared daggers at him. People were starting to stare.

"Move Potter, or I'll _make_ you move." Potter drew his wand out, ready for a fight.

"Gentlemen, this is a family establishment! Please take whatever conflict you are having outside," an employ said to them and began pushing them out the door. Draco took this opportunity shove his ice cream in Potter's face and dash out after _her_. But he was close on his heels. Suddenly, he felt Potter grab his robes and yank him backwards.

"Leave them alone Malfoy!" Harry shouted.

"Leave them alone? LEAVE THEM ALONE? I come to Diagon Alley for a nice lunch break and as I sit down to enjoy my ice cream, I come face to face with MY SPITTING IMAGE!" he roared. "DON'T YOU TELL ME TO LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

Potter tried to push him into a nearby alley to avoid the scene they were making, but Draco was having none of it. He punched him in the nose and sprinted down the road. Sure enough, he saw Granger hurrying through the crowd with the girl in her arms.

"GRANGER!" he bellowed. "GRANGER!"

She turned around and looked at him. For a moment, her green eyes mixed with his grays and then she was gone.

Disapperated.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted. He turned around to see a bloody Potter running towards him, stopping when he saw that Draco was no longer in pursuit. Draco started toward him, shouting maniacally.

"WHY DIDN'T SHE TELL ME? ANSWER ME POTTER! WHY DIDN'T SHE TELL ME?"

Potter said nothing, but instead threw his fist right into Draco's face. And everything went dark.

* * *

He woke up in a bed. A slightly uncomfortable bed. He looked around and realized he was in St. Mungo's. His nose hurt like hell. He guessed Potter had given him a nose to match his own. That bastard.

As he looked to his right, that bastard came into view. He was lying in the bed next to him, passed out, donning a nose brace that Draco assumed he was also wearing.

His anger quickly had his heart pumping. He leapt off his bed and on top of Potter and wrapped his hands around his throat. Potter rapidly awoke and began trying to push Draco off him.

"WHY DIDN'T SHE TELL ME POTTER? ANSWER MY BLOODY QUESTION!"

Harry struggled underneath him as Draco's fury mounted. Suddenly three healers rushed in and pulled Draco off Potter. He struggled against their hold but he wasn't strong enough to take on three grown men.

"I told you we should've separated them," one healer said.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you don't stop struggling, we're going to have to sedate you. We can't have you assaulting other patients," another warned.

"He's the bloody reason I'm in here to begin with!" Draco shouted.

"Please calm down Mr. Malfoy. And I do believe that Mr. Potter said that _you_ punched him first." Draco relaxed his muscles and the healers let him sit on the bed. Potter sat up and rubbed his neck then turned to face him. He was overwhelmed. Could it be true? Why wouldn't Potter answer him? Why did _she_ run away?

"You are a bloody coward Malfoy and you don't have a right to be in either of their lives. They deserve better than scum like you," Potter said quietly.

"Maybe you're not familiar with the law Potter, but when someone has a child, he has a right to know. Not to mention see the child."

"Ha! Malfoy is lecturing me about the law now! How ironic since his family has notoriously disregards the law," Harry said to no one in particular.

"Don't you dare bring my family into this. We were cleared of all charges!" Draco felt his blood start to boil again. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

"Yea, thanks to MY testimony Malfoy. If it weren't for me, your parents would be rotting in Azkaban and you'd be an outcast of wizarding society!" Harry was on his feet now, glaring at Draco.

"SHUT UP POTTER," he bellowed. "The War is OVER! Move on with your life. This isn't about you or your prejudices. If I have a _daughter_ I have a right to know."

"No you don't Malfoy, you don't deserve either of them! You knocked her up and then just _ignored_ her. Forgot she existed. You got what you wanted and left her to deal with the consequences! Then you set the Death Eaters loose in the castle, watched Snape kill the greatest man I've ever known, and then ran away like a fucking coward. You are a _coward_ Malfoy. A fucking COWARD! You ran away from her and then you ran away from your life. The life _you_ chose. Well, now its time for you to deal with the consequences of your actions. You _abandoned_ her. You abandoned both of them. It's too late to take that back. Deal with it."

Draco launched himself back onto Potter screaming, "I DIDN'T CHOSE THAT LIFE!" but the healers had instantly paralyzed him with a quick hex. They laid him back on his bed but left the curse in tact.

"Mr. Potter, if someone is hiding Mr. Malfoy's child from him, there could be legal repercussions. He is right. There are laws that require a woman to tell the father the child is his if she is aware of this fact. And if a man suspects a child is his, he can request testing to prove parentage. But the laws go further and require monetary support from the father if the couple is not married. This could actually benefit this woman. Raising a child alone is both emotionally and financially difficult."

"She doesn't need his money," Potter barked. "Nor does she need his 'emotional' support. He's hardly capable of giving her such a thing."

"Nonetheless, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy has a right to know and a right to testing for parentage. I would be happy to set up an appointment for the woman and her child. The test is painless and quick, and we can have results instantly. I assure you there will be minimal hassle."

Potter was silent for a minute. Then he said, "I'm going to have to talk to her about this. This is both unexpected and frustrating. But there will hardly be need for testing. The resemblance is… _unsettling_."

"Alright then Mr. Potter, but this matter needs to be settled in a timely fashion. Mr. Malfoy here is obviously upset about this new development in his life and I don't think he will take to kindly to you or this woman stalling his interaction with the child any longer. It would be easier for both parties if the authorities didn't get involved. I'll go get each of you some pamphlets we have on monetary support of children, shared custody, and parental rights. I'll be back in a moment."

After the healer left to fetch the papers, Potter's face materialized above him.

"Mr. Potter, please do not provoke or assault Mr. Malfoy. This has gone far enough," one of the other healers said as he walked up to the bed.

Potter ignored him and uttered threateningly, "You may get some legal rights to her and maybe you can buy her some things, but Accalia already has the father she needs. You gave that right up when you left them."

And then he was gone.

* * *

A/N #2: So this story is partially a product of my random inspiration to write it and partially a product of my desire to do ANYTHING but work on my thesis. And by ANYTHING I mean ANYTHING: organize my sock drawer, rearrange my tupperware cabinet, fill my mechanical pencils with lead, watch youtube videos so I can copy Lady Gaga's dance moves… you get the picture. But as I push thesis writing to the side to do fun things (like sock organizing) I've put myself in a pickle. The deadline is looming. So this is a very complicated way to tell you that I have to pound out some quality pages of literary criticism this week, which means less time for writing sappy dramatic Dr/H stories like this one. I've also got a heavy work load this week (gotta make that money!) so another update may be a week or so off. I hope you're not terribly disappointed and will continue to read! Besos!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the delay! I've been swamped with school and work as I have mentioned before. Also, the deadline for me to choose where I'm going to grad school was today, and I had two really great schools to choose from. This decision pretty much drove me insane. Not only am I indecisive, but this is also a HUGE life decision, which made it even more daunting. But I'm relieved to not have to think about it anymore. Anyways enough of my complaining, here's what you really want. So in my story, Ron never leaves Harry and Hermione during the horcrux hunt, but instead Hermione leaves (as you will read the details). I hope no one is too concerned with the details of when exactly the war and final battle took place—I tried my best to make it chronologically correct with the books. Please Please PLEASE review! Even if you don't like it! Tell me what you don't like. I can tell how many people are viewing this story and MOST of you are NOT leaving reviews (Thanks to IGOTEAMEDWARD, Slythindor Complex, and emilyneal!). So if you don't know what to say, tell me the best movie you've seen lately. Last time the question was what's your favorite color and mine is pink, if you care. See, reviewing can be a fun game! On with the show!

* * *

It had been a week since Draco's encounter with Potter and _her_. He had read over the paperwork the healer had given him approximately fifty-seven times. Basically, he had memorized every word in the pamphlets. He then contacted his lawyer about the… _situation_. His options were pretty clear: wait for _her_ to contact him to work out a deal or have his lawyer summon _her_ to the Wizengamot. He had been patiently waiting for _her_ to make a move, but it seemed as though more drastic measures would have to be taken. He didn't really want to bring this into the public eye, but she was giving him no choice. He wasn't going to just sit around while _Potter_ raised his kid. This was totally unacceptable!

He decided that if she hadn't contacted him by Monday morning, he was going to have his lawyer draw up the paperwork for a court appeal. This would complicate things significantly, but it was obvious that they weren't going to be sorting this out privately.

The past week had been a blur of stress. He had been slammed with meetings with his investment managers and potential clients, but his mind was constantly clouded by thoughts of _her_ and his daughter. It was such a strange, foreign thought--- his daughter. He was still getting used to the idea that he was a father. His emotions toggled between relentless rage at _her_ for hiding this from him and sorrow that he'd been absent in his daughter's life.

It seemed as if he had been cursed by his father permanently. His father had been a distant presence in his life at best, mostly a force to instill fear and obedience in him. Draco had promised that he'd never be his father's son again. He'd never abandon his child like his father had abandoned him. Not only had his father abandoned him, he'd forsaken him—forsaken him to the Dark Lord and to a task he could never manage. He had never been close with his parents, especially his father, and he intended to keep it that way. After the War and its aftermath, his parents tried to start over. They wanted to just start a new life with a new happy little family like nothing had happened. Needless to say, Draco had rejected his parents' apologies and forbade them from making amends for the past with him. They had never wanted to be good parents before and it was sure as bloody hell too late to start after the shitstorm that was his childhood.

Nevertheless, he was not going to let _her_ or anyone prevent him from being a father to his daughter. He was, after all, her biological father. The bitterness he felt for his own father only fueled his need to connect with his daughter more. And deep down, although Draco tried to ignore it, he needed to do this, to try and be in his daughter's life; he had to prove to himself that he wasn't his father. While he had separated himself from his parents and their lives after the War and created a whole new life and career for himself, he was still afraid that he would turn out like his father—cold, phony, and ultimately… alone. He had to do this, for himself and his daughter.

On the other hand, he was completely terrified of the task lying before him. Parenting. A completely unfamiliar subject to him. Not only did he not have the slightest clue about how to care for and raise children, he hardly had an example to go by with his own parents. He'd thought about looking for some books on parenting at Flourish and Blotts, but could a book really teach him how to be a good father? He was certain _she_ had been raising his daughter by the book—he had no doubt about that. But he was pretty sure a book wasn't going to tell him how to explain to his daughter why he had been inexplicably absent in her life. Or how he could fit in to the life she already had. On the whole, he was bloody terrified of what he was going to do once he actually had his daughter in his life. He just decided he'd take it one step at a time. He'd face Operation: I have a Daughter, Now What do I Do? later.

The waiting was getting to him, however. He was becoming jumpy and restless. He couldn't sit in his office for more than ten minutes before he needed to get up and take a walk for some fresh air. Not to mention the persistent case of insomnia he had developed (although it was easily remedied by dreamless draught). After arriving at his flat after he was released from the hospital a week ago, he'd decided to do a bit of… redecorating, you could say. He took it upon himself to destroy his entire living room. It started out as a fist through the wall and escalated… a bit. But he couldn't get control of his fury. _She_ and Potter had been conspiring to keep _his_ daughter away from him.

The magnitude of their deception and hypocrisy was almost incomprehensible to him. How could they--in good conscience--keep a child away from her father? And why had no one told him about her!? He and his daughter might as well have been exact replicas—she looked just like him! Surely someone had noticed? Surely someone he knew had noticed? _She_ obviously had no problem walking around in broad day light with his offspring. Did no one make the connection? How couldn't a single person figure it out? Was she blackmailing them? What did she tell everyone when she popped out a child that looked exactly like a Malfoy? No one could believe that it was just a coincidence.

His mind raced all day, every day with these questions. He tried to think of how she had succeeded with this plan and how everyone had gone along with it. Obviously Potter knew he was the father. Did the Weasel know? Did all of the Weasleys know? His rage almost temped him to hunt her down, hex her with a body-binding curse, and demand answers and his daughter immediately. However, he knew with his family's reputation, he was going to be disfavored in the proceedings for custody and he didn't want to give the Wizengamot another reason to deny him his child. So he decided he'd wait patiently like a mature adult for her to come to him. Or he'd contact her through his lawyer.

Monday morning was only two days away.

* * *

_(The week before)_

Harry returned to his flat after leaving St. Mungo's that afternoon in order to gather his thoughts. He had owled Hermione to tell her he'd be over to her flat soon and that it would be best if Accalia weren't present. He had no idea how he was going to tell Hermione that she had to let Malfoy into Accalia's life. They had worked so hard to keep her isolated from him. He had been raising Accalia with Hermione and Malfoy hardly deserved an ounce of time with her. While his family had changed sides—sort of—at the end of the war, he didn't trust Malfoy to have any faculties in competent child rearing. The elder Malfoys were hardly an example of how to raise a child, as evidenced by Malfoy's haughty attitude and brattiness. Not to mention the Malfoy superiority complex.

No, he and Hermione had decided that Malfoy was hardly an appropriate parent for Accalia. Not that he was around to know about her anyway. After sixth year ended and Malfoy had disappeared with Snape, he, Hermione, and Ron had set out looking for the horcruxes. But after a month of hiding out in the woods, he and Ron had noticed that Hermione was acting strange. She would disappear early in the morning and return pale and distraught. She slept a lot and couldn't seem to keep her focus. Finally, Harry saw Hermione sneaking out into the forest one morning while he was still on watch duty so he followed her. She didn't go far, as to not leave the safety barrier they had built, but she did cast a silencing charm and then proceeded to vomit. Then she sat down and began to cry uncontrollably. This was utterly bizarre. Why wouldn't she tell them that she was sick? Harry came out from behind the shadows and said her name.

"Hermione," he whispered softly. She immediately jerked her face up in terror.

"HARRY! Merlin, you scared me." But the look of panic didn't leave her face. He knew she was hiding something.

"Hermione, what's going on? You're obviously sick. Why would you hide that from us?"

She was silent for a moment and then quietly said, "I didn't want you to make me leave."

"Well Hermione, we have to get you some help. You can't just ignore your health."

"Harry, I'm not sick…"

"Don't pretend like I didn't just see you vomit all over the place, Hermione! I'm not going to let you keep going like this. You're sick! You need help!"

"Harry… this problem far surpasses sickness… or anything you can imagine." He walked over and sat down next to her. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Look, we are going to find some help for you, a healer or something, and everything's going to be fine."

"Harry…" she sobbed. "I'm… pregnant."

"What did you say?" Hermione lifted her head and looked at him.

"I'm pregnant, Harry, I'M PREGNANT!" she shouted. The color drained from Harry's face.

"You're pregnant? PREGNANT? How in the bloody hell could you be pregnant?"

"Well, Harry, when a man and a woman…" she said snidely.

"Don't be ridiculous Hermione!" He interrupted. "You're pregnant? Who's the father?! How could this happen?" Harry was on his feet now, waving his arms and staring her down.

"I can't tell you Harry…"

"Hermione, you're my best friend. You can tell me anything. I'm still going to be your best friend," Harry said as he pleaded with her, his voice full of desperation. She started to cry so stepped toward her and gathered her into his arms.

"Mmm…Maaa…M-Malfoy. Malfoy's the father. I had sex with Malfoy." She began sobbing uncontrollably again. Harry let go of her, feeling his blood boil.

"MALFOY? MALFOY IS THE FATHER? DRACO BLOODY MALFOY IMPREGNATED YOU? MALFOY? MALFOY!" Harry was shaking. "This has got to be a joke. Tell me you're kidding Hermione." She said nothing. She just stared at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You let a _Death Eater_ knock you up Hermione."

The minutes passed silently.

Finally, Hermione broke the silence. "What am I going to do Harry?"

Her voice jolted Harry out of his pensive state. His muscles began to relax and he breathed deeply in order to calm himself.

"We're going to figure out a way through this Hermione." She walked over to him and looked him right in the eye.

"How, Harry? This is such a mess. I don't know what to do…"

"Does he know?"

"No. I don't know how I'd be able to tell him. Not that he'd care."

"Have you… considered all your options?" Harry asked quietly.

"Harry, of course I've considered my options. I'm having this baby. I made a decision and now I have to deal with the consequences. I'm not just going to… get rid of it because it's Malfoy's baby. It's my baby too… I can already feel the connection. I love this baby, Harry." Harry looked at her with pain in his eyes. She felt like she was going to be sick again.

"Hermione, you're going to have to leave us then. You can't stay out here in this danger."

"No, Harry! I can't leave you and Ron. This is too important!"

"Hermione, your _baby_ is the most important thing in your life now. You have to take care of both of you."

"I know that Harry, don't be silly. But I'm barely 4 months along. I'm hardly even showing. I can stay and help you search a bit longer."

"Hermione… you know I can't let you do that. We need to get you to the Burrow with the Order. You can't be running around fighting Death Eaters with a child inside you."

"It's a Death Eater's fault I'm pregnant in the first place…"

"WHAT?!" a voice came from behind them. Ron materialized from behind a tree close to camp.

Harry and Hermione were silent.

"I woke up and both of you were gone," he said. "What are you doing over here? What's going on? What did you just say, Hermione?"

"Ron…" Hermione started.

"Ron, you heard correct. Hermione's pregnant." Harry interrupted. Ron's face turned into an image of utter bewilderment.

"Hermione—You're pregnant? PREGNANT? BY A DEATH EATER?" Ron's voice became distressed.

"Who? Hermione, who?"

"Malfoy," she said feebly.

"Bloody hell," Ron said.

The three were quiet for a moment.

"How did it happen, Hermione? Did he rape you? Did he hurt you?" Ron asked suddenly.

"No, Ron. It was… consensual."

"But how? He's been gone for months! Traipsing around with You-Know-Who!"

"It was before Snape killed Dumbledore… before he let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts… I went to the Room of Requirement one night and he was there. Crying. Sobbing helplessly really. And he looked at me and I couldn't just leave him. I don't know why I stayed, but I did. I let him cry on my shoulder. I even cried a bit myself. He muttered nonsense all night and eventually we fell asleep… and then… we woke up while it was still dark and… it just happened."

"Just happened? Hermione, things like that don't just happen!" Ron said annoyed.

"I don't know why it happened, Ron, it just did! He was vulnerable… and even desperate I think. I don't know, we both just needed something and it happened… And I guess I should be honest. It happened more than once. We kind of… got into a rhythm if you could call it that. I needed an escape and so did he. But he broke it off. Right after I found out I was pregnant. I think he'd finally gotten the vanishing cabinet to work and I guess he didn't need me anymore then."

"Bloody fucking hell, Hermione. You had sex with Malfoy multiple times? Willingly? And now you're pregnant?" Ron was shouting now. "Who are you? I feel like I don't even know you anymore."

"Look I know that Malfoy is hardly an appropriate person to do something like that with, but it happened and I can't take it back now. I know it's hard for you to see it, but Malfoy's not all bad. I think he's just stuck in a situation his family forced on him."

"Oh so you're his advocate now are you?" Ron said snidely.

"Ron, don't be so dramatic. I'm just trying to help you understand the situation. Please try and understand! I needed to escape from this. From everything. I don't think you all understand how hard it is to be a muggle born right now. And to be in this war. And I know Harry that you're under more pressure than all of us, but I just broke down and did something irresponsible. I just wanted to act out. To stop being my always perfect self. To not do what was expected of me for once."

"Hermione, he's a Death Eater. Death. Eater. He works for the man who wants to kill me and all muggleborns like you." Harry said. "You were sleeping with the enemy."

"He's not the enemy Harry. Look I know you can't understand why I did what I did but now I have to live with the consequences. I'm having a baby." With that thought, she began to sob again. Harry looked at Ron and watched him shake his head.

"Hermione, let's go back to the tent and get together a plan."

Hermione finally consented to going back to the Burrow, but she demanded that Harry let her communicate with them through the galleons that she had created for the DA. She rigged it so that she could pass a code to him through the coin, in case she had any more ideas on the horcruxes or hallows. She had developed a code that only she, Harry, and Ron knew so that no one else would be able to translate the message. And eventually, Harry let go of his anger and accepted that Hermione had slept with Malfoy. While he didn't like it, Hermione was too important to him to let it come between them and he didn't want to leave her at the Burrow on a sour note. Ron, however, was not as quick to forgive. He was still resigned to her even as they were leaving her at the Burrow with his mom. He gave her a quick goodbye and waited outside for Harry to finish his goodbyes. Before leaving her, they had decided that it would be best to tell everyone that Hermione had a short-lived relationship with a childhood muggle friend of hers. The story would be that he passed away from a muggle disease right before Hermione went into hiding with Harry and Ron. The secret was to remain between he, Hermione, and Ron. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were shocked when they turned up with the news. But they welcomed Hermione back to the Headquarters and promised they'd see to it that she had a healthy pregnancy.

It was difficult for Harry to leave her behind, but he knew he had to fulfill his destiny, or at least try to. He and Ron went back to the woods, found the sword of Gryffindor, and learned the real story behind the hallows. Eventually they encountered Malfoy at the Manor for the first time since Hermione had confided in them. And they were face to face with him again in the Room of Requirement with the Fiendfyre. Part of Harry wanted to leave Malfoy in that room to die, but he knew he couldn't kill Malfoy. He wasn't a murderer. And as much as he hated Malfoy, he didn't want that hanging over his conscience. Hermione would be disappointed. Ron, on the other hand, was ready to leave him to die, but Harry managed to save him and Goyle. And later on, he saved his family during the Death Eater trials. When you really thought about it, Malfoy owed Harry… a lot.

And yet, instead of a thank you, he got a broken nose. No, he didn't like Malfoy, but he it was obvious that due to recent developments that he was going to have to tolerate him. Nonetheless, he was going to see to it that Malfoy would have as little to do with Accalia as possible.

* * *

Hermione was pacing across her living room, wringing her hands. She had sent Accalia over to the Burrow after she received Harry's letter. She knew he was going to come with bad news. Malfoy had seen Accalia and she knew that he knew Accalia was his daughter. There was no way he would believe the child wasn't his. The anticipation of Harry's visit had her nerves shot. She was preparing for the worst. Malfoy would want custody. Shared custody. She was certain he wouldn't be able to win full custody. She had been raising her daughter for four years, without him. And while she did… keep information, so to speak, from him, she was a much better parental candidate than he. He was a former Death Eater. He abandoned them. He wouldn't even respond to her owls. Back at Hogwarts, after he had told her to fuck off in more words or less, she had tried to owl him, tried to tell him that she was pregnant. It was his own fault he didn't know. She could only receive so many returned owls before she just gave up. Not to mention he quickly disappeared to join the ranks of Voldemort and any way of telling him was then lost.

No, he didn't have a very good case for a custody hearing. Nor was she about to let him invade her daughter's life all of a sudden. Harry was her father as far as they were concerned. When Accalia was old enough to talk, one of the first things she was curious about was her family. She had a mom, Harry, and her grandparents. But it wasn't too long before she noticed that there was something different about her family—there wasn't a dad living with them. Harry and Hermione had decided to tell her that her dad had died before she was born and that Harry was her new daddy. This was a little difficult for her young mind to understand, but Harry had been a part of her life since she could remember and she loved him dearly.

She was so grateful that Harry had stepped up to help parent Accalia. She and Ron's relationship was never the same after she broke the news of her pregnancy, but as soon as the War was over, Harry was at her and Accalia's side constantly. The boys couldn't make it back to the Burrow when she went into labor, but she sent them a galleon-message alerting them that she and the baby were fine. Two months later, the final battle was in full swing and she was stuck, alone with her baby, in a small cottage far away from Hogwarts. Molly and Arthur Weasley had transported her to the new location shortly before heading to Hogwarts. Those were the longest hours of her life. Not knowing what was happening, or if her closest friends were dying. The worst part was not being able to fight along side of her best friend. She felt like she let herself and Harry down with her pregnancy, because it prevented her from being by his side to help him defeat Voldemort. Harry had promised her over and over that he held nothing against her and that Accalia was well worth the inconvenience during the War. But she couldn't let it go. She loved her daughter, more than anything in the world, but it was hard for her to forgive herself for her mistakes with Malfoy.

Her thoughts were interrupted with a whoosh from her fireplace. She looked over and saw Harry standing in her living room, brushing some soot off his shirt. He looked up and gave her a weak smile.

"I don't have good news unfortunately."

"I wasn't expecting any. Just tell me the worst of it."

"Well, the law is on Malfoy's side. He has a right to paternity testing and custody of her. I don't think anyone will be demanding any testing though. He knows. His rage was indicative enough of that. I couldn't possibly have talked him into another possibility. And unfortunately, the healers at St. Mungo's gave him all the information he needs to proceed with a custody battle."

"Healers? Why were you at St. Mungo's?"

"Malfoy and I got into a bit of a… scuffle. He tried to rearrange my face, but the healers got everything back in place."

"Oh Harry! This is such a mess. I'm so sorry you had to deal with that." She walked over to him and ran her hand over his face. There wasn't any bruising which relieved her.

"Forget about it, Hermione. It's fine. Let's focus on Accalia and what we're going to do about this situation."

"Ok… so how much custody do you think he can get? I mean he was a Death Eater. The Wizengamot couldn't possibly give him more than one weekend per month? Would it? He was a Death Eater! And hardly suitable for full-time parenting"

"I don't know Hermione, I don't know. I think this could get messy, especially since Malfoy is pissed." Hermione sat on the couch and put her head in her hands.

"What are we going to do, Harry. We told her that her father was dead. She think's you're her dad. I can't just bring some strange man that I hardly even know into her life. It will rock her tiny little world. What if she can't handle it? What if this will emotionally damage her?"

"This is going to be hard on everyone. We're just going to have to do the best we can and make sure that the transition is easiest for her. I'm still going to be her dad and in her life like always. She'll still have her mummy. She's young. I think she will probably mold to the situation better than we will."

"I don't know, Harry. How are we going to explain to her that her father isn't actually dead?"

"I think that we should tell her something simple, like that there was a mistake and her real father isn't actually dead. And maybe we should say that he wants to spend time with her and get to know her. It's going to be hard for her to understand anyway, but it will be better for her if we don't demonize Malfoy in her mind. It will just confuse her. Maybe when she's older we can tell her the truth. But I think for now we should just simplify."

"You're right Harry. I think that's a good simple story that she can understand. But I just don't know that I can willingly let Malfoy gallivant back into our lives. I've worked so hard to keep him from knowing. To keep him out of our lives. He doesn't deserve her. And I don't want him coming in and screwing things up. His parenting skill can't be very refined—and I'm certainly not going to be raising a spoiled brat like the Malfoys raised him."

"I agree. But he's going to force himself into her life, one way or another. I think the best we can aim for now is to minimize his custody time and to focus on her well-being and not our past drama or resentments. Don't get me wrong—I despise Malfoy to the core. But Accalia has to come first."

"Harry, I don't know if I can just leave my resentment at the door when he comes around. I more than despise him. I hate him. Harry, I _hate_ him. I've never felt that way about anyone—but him. Just the thought of him brings out the worst of my emotions." Harry sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She slumped into his body and let him hold her.

"Hermione, I told you in the forest that we would get through this together. And we will. I'm not going to let Malfoy screw up what we have." She looked up with him with tears welling in her eyes.

"Harry, I don't know what I'd do without you. You're more than I could have ever hoped for."

* * *

Over a week had passed and Hermione had yet to take any action. She needed time to think this through and to figure out her plan. At least, that's what she was telling herself. She was actually just delaying the inevitable. She just couldn't bring herself to let Malfoy ruin everything she'd worked so hard to build. She and her daughter had a good life, no thanks to him. Who was he to think he could just barge into their lives?

Hermione sighed as she watched her daughter play with her stuffed animals on the floor. She had known that this would probably happen one day, but that day had come too quickly. She had no idea how to react to this new situation. She watched as Accalia babbled on in silly voices that she made up for each of her stuffed animals. She and her animals were having a pretend picnic while she waited for Harry. He would be over soon to pick her up for their weekly slumber party his place. She watched her daughter's messy curls bounce as she scooted across the blanket. It was so hard, sometimes, to look at her. She was his spitting image. And although she loved her daughter unconditionally, sometimes the blonde hair and piercing grey eyes aroused memories that she preferred to keep locked down. It was impossible not to see him when she looked at her. Every now and then she would almost hear his voice come out of her mouth. He had definitely left an imprint on her life that prevented her from forgetting him.

"Mummy come play picnic with me!" Accalia pleaded.

"Just a second, sweetheart," Hermione responded gently. There was an owl pecking at her window. She opened it with her wand and let the creature land on her hand. She then carried it over to her owl perch where her own owl, Louis, was nibbling at his feed. Louis looked for a moment at the new owl but then scooted down to allow it room to perch. Hermione fed the new owl a treat and looked at the letter it had delivered. In perfect calligraphy, her name was written in green ink on the envelope. She turned it over and ripped it open. As she read the parchment inside, the blood drained from her face. This was the moment she'd been dreading. She was being summoned to court that Thursday for a custody hearing.

As she finished reading the letter, frozen in place, she heard Harry floo in. He greeted her and Accalia, who jumped up from her picnic to give Harry a hug and a kiss, but Hermione remained immobilized with the letter in hand. Harry walked over to her and read the message over her shoulder. He put his hands on her shoulders and said, "Well, the battle has begun."

* * *

Coming up next: The highly anticipated first encounters.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello readers! A few of you have messaged me asking when I'll be updating. I plan on updating at the end of every week (Thurs or Fri). Also, I would like to give a big thanks to Deniche2526 betaing this story! And snaps for Slythindor Complex, IGOTEAMEDWARD, emilyneal, loveemmy, and Deniche2526 for reviewing!

Now I have a bit of a bone to pick with yall. A LOT of people have alerted/favorited this story and NOT A LOT of you have reviewed. This makes me very sad :-( I don't want to be that author that threatens to quit updating if no one reviews, but I may get dramatic if I do not receive any feedback. If you're going to click the alert button go ahead and type like a sentence into the review box to make me happy, please!

On with the show!

* * *

Hermione walked into the atrium of the Ministry's first floor with Bob Odgen, the lawyer who had worked with Harry during the Death Eater trials four years ago. Harry contacted him about the situation and he agreed to assist Hermione as her legal counsel. Wednesday afternoon she had met with him after work to discuss her options and the best strategy to minimize Malfoy's custody time. Odgen admitted to Hermione that he had been quite surprised when Harry contacted him about this. He said he thought he remembered reading in the papers years ago that the child was from a relationship with a muggle who had passed away. Hermione explained to him that she and Harry decided to tell everyone this story, because Malfoy was not in the picture and she didn't think he'd ever want to be in the picture. Odgen told her that this would probably be used against her—lying to mask parentage was not exactly permissible by the law. However, he told her that since Malfoy was a Death Eater at the time, it was likely that this would be forgiven by the Wizengamot. Hermione was just trying to protect her child. He also told her that being a Death Eater would be a strike against him, but because he and his family were acquitted during the trials, they probably wouldn't use that as grounds to deny him custody. They were just going to have to wait and see how sympathetic the council would be to Malfoy.

And here they were, about to face the Wizengamot for their hearing. Mrs. Weasley thankfully agreed to watch Accalia for the morning and Harry was going to meet her here to sit in on the hearing. She was terribly nervous, especially since she hadn't seen Malfoy in years. Hermione was usually strong-willed and never backed down from a challenge; however, her Gryffindor spirit had abandoned her this morning and she couldn't seem to get control of herself. Her stomach was too uneasy for breakfast this morning and her hands wouldn't stop shaking. As they reached the elevators, she asked Odgen if they could wait for Harry before going up, but he said there wasn't time and showing up late would look bad on her character.

"Oh Merlin," she thought. "I can't do this without Harry." Odgen caught an elevator that was on its way up and held it for Hermione to get in. He pressed the 4 button and a few moments later, they had arrived at their destination. Odgen led Hermione over to room 5 where an attendant told them that the Wizengamot would be ready shortly. Hermione began to pace in front of the door, trying to calm her nerves, as Odgen tried to assure her that everything was going to be fine. A few moments later, she heard the thud of footsteps from down the hall and Harry appeared in front of her eyes looking dishevelled and worried.

"Thank Merlin! I thought I'd missed it!" Harry panted.

"Harry!" she cried as she ran over to hug him. "I'm so glad you made it!" She held him in a tight embrace and began to relax a little.

"Harry this is utterly terrifying. I don't know how I'm going to be able to get through this hearing."

"It's alright Hermione, just try and calm down. We're going to get through this together." He held her for a moment, cradling her head in his hand. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught a familiar shade of blonde and tensed up. Hermione sensed the change in the atmosphere of the room and looked up. She and Malfoy's eyes met. His gaze was… unfriendly to say the least. Her stomach turned over again and she had to fight tears back. Instinctually, she turned away and pretended to be looking for something in her bag.

Malfoy's glare burned a hole in Harry's head. He was watching Hermione fumble aimlessly with her purse, but the attendant broke the silence and said it was time to go in. Malfoy and his legal advisor entered the chamber while Harry and Odgen waited for Hermione.

"Are you ready Hermione?" Harry asked. He heard her sniffle and she turned around to meet his gaze. Her eyes were filled with tears and her cheeks were flushed.

She sighed and said, "I suppose so."

He grasped her hand and escorted her toward the door while Odgen followed.

As they entered the chamber, Hermione saw the Wizengamot sitting in their seats that encircled the room. It was an intimidating sight to take in. They were a silent group of plum robes, each with emotionless expressions on their faces, waiting for the proceedings to begin. Hermione took a deep breath and followed Odgen over to their bench while Harry sat down in the spectator section. After she sat down, she looked back at Harry, who gave her an encouraging smile. Next to him, she saw Dennis Creevey, a writer for the Daily Prophet.

"Great," she thought. By this afternoon the entire Wizarding population would know that she and Malfoy had a lovechild. She sighed and turned forward just as the Chief Warlock, Griselda Marchbanks, tapped her gavel to begin the proceeding. She could see Kingsley and Amelia Bones sitting behind her, each donning their Wizengamot robes.

Marchbanks cleared her throat. "The Wizengamot is called into session," she said. "Custody case of Granger vs. Malfoy may begin. Would Ms. Granger's representation please take the floor?" Odgen rose from his seat and walked over to the podium in the center of the chamber, carrying some notes with him.

"Good morning, members of the Wizengamot. On behalf of Hermione Granger I would like to appeal for total custody to be maintained in her possession with limited visitation granted to Mr. Malfoy. Ms. Granger has been raising her child for the past four years without Mr. Malfoy's assistance, both physically and monetarily, and she would like for this to continue for the duration of the childhood of her daughter. Ms. Granger has provided a stable home for her daughter. As her legal counsel, I do not recommend that the child be forced into a two-home situation. This could damage her emotional development and lead to behavioural problems later in her life. It is in the best interest of the child to keep her in the stable environment she currently lives in. As Section 239 of the Wizarding Family Law testament states, one must give favourable advantage to a stable home life…"

Hermione could see Malfoy glaring daggers at her as Odgen spoke. Fighting the urge to look over at him, she focused on the podium in front of her.

"Additionally, with the background of Mr. Malfoy and his family, I do not believe he is the best parental option for the child. Section 536 of the Wizarding Family Law testament states that if one parent poses a danger to the child that custody should be granted to the favourable party…"

She could feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of her head. Finally, she gave in and looked over at him. The penetration of his grey eyes scorched her insides. He was obviously not happy with the jabs Odgen was taking at his character. She couldn't feel bad for him, though. She had to do what was best for her daughter.

Odgen's voice stopped and the chamber was silent for a moment. Malfoy turned away from her to have a word with his representative.

"Thank you Mr. Odgen. Please take your seat. Will Mr. Malfoy's representative take the floor," Marchbanks said. Hermione watch as Odgen gathered his notes and walked back toward her.

"Are you holding up ok?" Odgen asked her. She nodded her head and they waited for Malfoy's representative to begin speaking.

"Members of the Wizengamot, I'm here to protect Mr. Malfoy's rights to his child given to him by the Wizarding Family Law. On behalf of Mr. Malfoy, I would like to recommend that the Wizengamot give shared custody to Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger, splitting the child's time equally between each parent. Ms. Granger's representation has unfairly attacked Mr. Malfoy's character to justify keeping this child away from her father. The Malfoy family was cleared of all charges after the War and thus, the Wizengamot cannot hold these allegations against him. And while Ms. Granger may suggest that a two-home environment is unhealthy for child rearing, raising a child without a father is deliberately unhealthy for the child and hardly in her best interests. In addi—"

"Accalia already has a father," Hermione said to Odgen, annoyed with Malfoy's defence.

"Ms. Granger if you have something to say, please wait until the end of the testimonies." Marchbanks reprimanded. Hermione suppressed the urge to shout at the Chief Warlock and Malfoy's lawyer. This was totally ridiculous. Malfoy? A competent parent? Right.

"As I was saying, Ms. Granger has also knowingly kept the existence of her and Mr. Malfoy's daughter from him, which is serious breach of Wizarding law and ethics in general… It would be a breach of Wizarding law to deny Mr. Malfoy his parental rights out of petty prejudices. Mr. Malfoy has a steady income and references to prove that he is of outstanding character." He walked forward and handed some documents to the Scribe.

"I think you will find that Malfoy has been wrongly deceived over the past four years and know that you will help him to right this wrong. Ms. Granger has violated Wizarding law in keeping the child away from her father and this cannot continue for any longer. Thank you." He stepped away from the podium back to Malfoy's bench.

"Are there any last statements?" Marchbanks asked.

Hermione raised her hand, fuming. "A serious breach in _ethics_? Petty _prejudices_? Are you _kidding_ me?! That was the most ridiculous testimony I've heard in my life!" She was on her feet now, shouting. "Malfoy was a known, registered, outright Death Eater. Death. Eater. And you're telling me I should not only let him be around my child, but I should let her _live_ with him for half of her life? I don't care if he was cleared after the War. Harry's generosity was the only reason he came out unscathed. I was doing nothing but protecting my child from a man who _abandoned_ her before she was even born to join Voldemort's lackeys. I _tried_ to tell Malfoy as soon as I found out. In person! He told me to fuck off and then proceeded to return _all_ of my owls, unopened and unread. It's his own fault he didn't know!"

The room was silent as Hermione paused to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she was shaking uncontrollably.

"Not to mention that Harry has stepped up to be Accalia's father and has been a part of her life since she was a baby. I haven't been keeping my child in an unhealthy environment nor have I been deliberately lying to Malfoy. I haven't seen him since the day he told me he never wanted to see me again. It's outrageous to even insinuate that I've done anything outside of the best interests of my daughter."

"Ms. Granger, if I do recall correctly, your story was that the child was from a muggle relationship," Amelia Bones said as Hermione paused again.

Hermione gathered her thoughts for a moment and then said, "Yes, I did make up that story. But I decided to tell this story while this country was still in the midst of a war and I feared for the life of myself and my child. As you all know those were difficult times and I was trying to do the best I could for her."

"But you never brought her to the attention of Mr. Malfoy after the War and its aftermath?" Bones asked.

"No, I didn't. After his actions during the War, I thought it would be in the best interest of my child to keep her away from him."

The room went quiet again. After a few moments, Marchbanks broke the silence.

"If there are no further comments, this hearing will temporarily adjourn so that the council can determine a custody ruling."

Malfoy's representative stood up and said, "Although Mr. Malfoy may have made some mistakes in the past, it would be immoral to deny a man his child so that he can make amends for the past."

"Thank you, Mr. Bellvue. Please wait in the outside chamber until the verdict is decided." Both parties got up and walked toward the door. Malfoy rudely stepped in front of Hermione and Odgen as they made their way into the chamber. It was a small, conference-like room with a rectangular table in the centre and several chairs adorning the edges. Malfoy and Mr. Bellvue walked over to the corner and were talking in hushed tones, so Hermione decided to take a seat. This was so overwhelming—and she couldn't believe she was sitting in this chamber in the Ministry, face to face with Malfoy for the first time in four years. She had half a mind to march over to him and give him a piece of her mind… and maybe a piece of her fist as well. It wouldn't be the first time she'd hit him. She leaned her elbow on the desk and cradled her forehead in her hand. Was this really happening?

Before she had time to analyze all the detail of the hearing to try and predict what the verdict would be, the Wizengamot attendant came in the room and told them they could re-enter the court chamber for the decision. This time, Hermione was the first one out the door, hurrying back to her bench. After Malfoy and their respective representatives had taken their places at the benches, Marchbanks cleared her throat.

"The Wizengamot finds in favour of the defendant Malfoy, but has stipulated partial custody for a trial period of three months with central custody remaining with Ms. Granger. During the trial period, a ministry official will monitor the progress of Mr. Malfoy in providing a stable home for the child, while also observing the child's progress with coping with the new situation. After this period, if Mr. Malfoy is found to be suitable parent, shared custody will be granted to Mr. Malfoy and the child's time will be spent equally between each parent. If Mr. Malfoy is found to be an unsuitable parent, custody will remain with Ms. Granger with limited visitation rights for Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione's heart sank. No. This couldn't be happening. She looked over at Malfoy, who didn't appear to be pleased either.

"Now, if both parties would please make their way back into the outside chamber, your representatives will mediate a discussion to establish a custody schedule for Mr. Malfoy's time with the child and the meetings with the Ministry official. This session is adjourned," Marchbanks said and tapped her gavel. "Representatives, please see me for the paperwork regarding the custody stipulations."

Odgen and Bellvue made their way up to Marchbanks, while Hermione slumped down in her chair. Her emotions vacillated between shock and disbelief. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Harry who looked rather glum as well.

"I'm so sorry Hermione," he said. "I thought my pull with the Ministry would get us through this, but it looks as if we've got to fight a bit longer."

Kingsley approached them with sorrow in his eyes. "I'm sorry Hermione. I was largely outvoted during the sentencing and couldn't convince the majority to grant you sole custody. Most of the Wizengamot sympathized with Malfoy's situation and didn't favor your hiding the child from him."

Hermione said nothing while Harry thanked him for his efforts. Odgen made his way toward her and motioned toward the chamber door. She sighed and dragged herself out of her seat to walk with him to her doom. Harry quickly said goodbye to Kingsley and followed her, but Odgen shook his head.

"I'm sorry Harry, but unfortunately no one except Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, and their representation will be allowed in the chamber. Wizengamot's policy."

Harry turned to hug Hermione tightly. "Don't let him get to you Hermione. Be strong and fight for our girl." After a moment, he pushed her from him and gave her a small smile. She didn't smile back, but turned to follow Odgen.

She did _not_ want to do this.

Malfoy and Bellvue were already seated in the chamber when they entered. Odgen sat down opposite Bellvue so she was forced to come face to face with Malfoy.

She started to avert her eyes, but remember what Harry had just told her. So she met his angry gray gaze with an intense response. She would not back down.

Bellvue started the proceedings. "Well the Wizengamot has specified that the child spend one night a week with my client for this trial period. Now I have talked this over with Mr. Malfoy and he would like to keep the child Wednesday to Thursday as this best suits his work schedule."

"Absolutely not," Hermione said curtly.

"Ms. Granger, you're not exactly in the position to be making demands."

"Wednesday night is Harry's night with Accalia. She spends the night at his house while I go to my book club."

Bellvue looked at her for a moment and started to say something when Malfoy interrupted.

"Well, Granger, Potter's going to have to give up his night with _my_ daughter because this is the best night for me to have her. My weekends are usually booked for meetings with clients and investors. It shall be Wednesday night."

"Absolutely not," she said again, eyeing him fiercely.

"You're already treading on thin ice, Granger. You've been hiding _my_ daughter from me."

"Alright let's look for a compromise," Odgen said to try and prevent the discussion from escalating.

"Hiding _your_ child from you? You were too much of an arrogant prick to even let me tell you she existed! I will not let you stomp into her life and ruin her time with Harry!"

"Potter will be stepping aside, as _I_ am her _real_ father."

"Yeah and what a great father you've been, _abandoning_ her before she was even born to join a league of idiots whose sole purpose was to _kill_ muggle borns like herself and her mother!" Hermione was gripping the table tightly to stop herself from launching as many hexes she could think of at him.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I had no choice in the matter of joining the Death Eaters. He would've killed me and my family." Malfoy began to raise his voice.

"There's always a choice, Malfoy, and you didn't chose us. I'm surprised you're even willing to claim her as your own, being that her blood is as dirty as mine."

"Don't go there, Granger."

"Oh its Granger now, is it? You don't have to be polite. We all know what you really want to say." She watched his eyes narrow as he glared at her.

"Granger—"

"SAY IT MALFOY. CALL ME A MUDBLOOD! HOW DO YOU THINK SHE'LL REACT WHEN SHE FINDS OUT HER FATHER HATES PEOPLE OF MUGGLE DECENT? THAT HER BLOOD ISN'T AS SUPERIOR AS YOURS? HUH? THAT HER FATHER LEFT HER AND HER MOTHER TO DO EVIL THINGS TO MUGGLE BORNS? TO _KILL_ MUGGLE BORNS!"

"I didn't kill anyone, Granger. _SHUT. UP_." he said darkly.

"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE HER FATHER."

"You never even gave me a chance."

"I gave you a million _chances_ Malfoy. You returned them all unopened."

"How could I—"

"_Silencio_!" Odgen shouted and the room went quiet.

"This is completely out of hand. You two need to set aside your differences and come to terms of this trial custody for your daughter." Odgen reproached.

After a few moments, they broke their death stare and looked at Odgen. He lifted the silencing charm and said, "Alright. Now Ms. Granger, if you would agree to Wednesday night, perhaps Mr. Malfoy would be willing to let you accompany the child to her first few meetings with her father." He looked over at Malfoy.

"Fine," Malfoy said snappily.

"Fine," Hermione responded.

"Good, good!" Bellvue said cheerfully. "Now, Wednesday is six days from now, so you should have proper time to prepare the child for the new routine in her life. Shall we decide on a time and a meeting place?"

"I'll make my floo network available for their use," Malfoy said.

"My daughter will certainly _not_ be going to Malfoy Manor," Hermione started again.

"I don't live at the Manor," he responded before she could continue. Hermione was taken aback a bit by his statement. Why didn't he live at the Manor?

"Alright then. Where do you live?"

"I have a flat near Surrey."

"Ok. We'll floo to your flat Wednesday evening then. I get off work at 5."

Malfoy nodded in response, looking away from her.

"Marvellous. Now, we just need your signatures on a few documents for the Ministry and you'll be set. Please read over the terms to ensure that you both adhere to them. If one of you breaks this contract, the Ministry will be notified and you will have to come in for another hearing. Is that clear?" They nodded and began looking over the papers.

After signing in magically-binding ink, Bellvue continued, "Now, the Ministry's social services division holds meetings for custody cases on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. All parties, including the child must be present. Which day and time would be best?"

"Tuesday would be best for me," Malfoy said.

"I work the evening shift on Tuesdays. The only time I could meet would be before noon."

"Appointments begin at 10 am on Tuesday."

"That would be fine," Hermione said and Malfoy nodded to give his approval.

Odgen and Bellvue each signed their representatives' paperwork, completing the hearing.

"Alright, we're done here. You are free to leave." Odgen said. Malfoy stood up abruptly and with a terse nod to Bellvue, glided smoothly out the door. Hermione thanked Odgen for his help and gathered her purse and wand. As she re-entered the court chamber, she saw Harry waiting for her at the bench. She walked over to him, not bothering to mask her glum expression.

"We're going to have to find you a new night with Accalia," she said. "He gets her Wednesday nights."

Harry's blank expression quickly soured. "Why does he want Wednesday nights?"

"That's what works best for his work schedule, apparently. Something about clients and investors. I gave in and let him have that night so he would allow me to accompany her on her first few visits."

"Oh, I see." Harry said. After a moment, Hermione began to lose her composure and started to cry.

"Oh Harry, please just tell me this is all a bad dream."

"I wish I could love. Let's go pick up Accalia."

* * *

"Mummy! Harry!" Accalia shouted as she saw the pair walk through the door to the Burrow. She quickly leapt up from her toys on the couch where she had been playing with Victoire to give each of them a hug.

"Hi darling," Hermione said cheerfully, trying to hide her nervousness. "Hello, Victoire."

"Hi Ms. Hermione," Victoire responded. "Are you here to take Accalia home? We want to keep playing!"

"Yes, dear, I must unfortunately take her back home with me. But you two will have plenty of time to play this weekend. We'll be back for the picnic Saturday afternoon."

"I thought I heard you two come in," Mrs. Weasley said as she appeared from the kitchen. "The girls have been having a marvellous time playing with Victoire's new unicorn toys today! Would you all like to stay for dinner?"

"I wish we could Mrs. Weasley but we need to take Accalia home to talk to her," Harry said, mouthing the word 'Malfoy' to her. Hermione had come clean to the Weasleys about the truth of Accalia's father earlier that day. After she dropped her off at the Burrow, she sat Arthur and Molly down to tell them what was going on.

_(Earlier that day...)_

"Molly, Arthur, I have to come clean about something," Hermione said nervously.

"Well go ahead dear. What's going on?" Molly said sweetly.

"I have to go to a hearing at the Ministry today… a custody hearing."

"A custody hearing? For Accalia?" Arthur said, puzzled.

"Yes. For Accalia. You see… Accalia's father wasn't a muggle. And he's not dead. He's very alive, in fact, and he's recently discovered that Accalia is his child."

"What? Who's the father?" Arthur asked urgently.

"Oh, Hermione I knew it! I absolutely knew it! The day she was born I knew you were lying about her father." Molly exclaimed.

"Who's the father?" Arthur said again.

"Why you can't tell, Arthur? It's blatantly obvious. That girl looks _just_ like a Malfoy."

Arthur's eyes widened. Molly was smiling, quietly congratulating herself on her keen detective skills.

"Malfoy? As in _Draco_ _Malfoy_? Is Accalia's father?... Molly's right, she looks just like them."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Malfoy is the father."

"And he didn't know this?" Arthur asked.

"No… It happened shortly before the incident on the Astronomy Tower. I tried to tell him as soon as I found out, but he wouldn't listen…. And last week I saw him for the first time since then. We were at Florean's in Diagon Alley with Harry… And I looked up and there he was, staring right at us. He knew she was his instantly. I could see it in his eyes…. And now he's summoned me to the Wizengamot."

Arthur said nothing, stunned with disbelief. Molly, however, was taking the news well.

"Well dear, I can understand why you'd want to keep her away from that family. Their evildoings and all. I hope the Wizengamot can understand that. It's highly illegal to keep a child away from its parent."

"I know, Molly, I know. This is all so overwhelming. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to her…

* * *

After they arrived back at Hermione's flat, they sat Accalia down on the sofa.

"Accalia, there's something we need to talk about," Hermione said gently.

"What Mummy?" Accalia asked innocently.

"It's…. about your father."

"You mean Harry?" she said, turning and smiling at him.

"No, not me, Accalia. We have to talk to you about your real dad," Harry said.

"But you are my real dad, Harry."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, pain filling their eyes.

* * *

Coming up next: Draco finally meets his daughter!

Besos to all!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yes I know I'm late in updating. And this is a shorter chapter. So sorry! And I have more bad news… I probably won't be updating this week because I'm just swamped in finals/moving. But I promise a good one the week after! Thanks to IGOTEAMEDWARD, Slythindor Complex, alina290, obsidianbutterfly20, Ellesmere, and eau-bleu for reviewing! I'm so glad more people have been commenting. But there's still a lot of yall who alter it and don't review. Just do it! Review question of the week: Who is your favorite musician/band? Tell me when you review!

Side note: For some reason every time I upload these chapters the website removes the formatting, so you can't see breaks in the story or italics. This is extremely irritating but I can't fix it so I'm sorry for the difficulty you may have reading this. I'm going to email them to see what the problem is. I didn't realize this was happening until now. Frustrations.

On with the show!

* * *

"I don't understand… why isn't Harry my daddy?" Accalia asked, unease filling her voice.

"Honey, when you were still a baby in mummy's tummy, your real daddy had to… leave. And when he didn't come back, mummy found you a new daddy. Harry." Hermione's heart was pounding in her ears. This was the most heartbreaking moment of her life.

"But I thought you said my real daddy was dead and now Harry was my real daddy?" Tears began welling up in her eyes and her lip began to quiver. Hermione scooped her into her arms and held her close.

"I thought he was dead, darling, but he's not. I'm so sorry honey."

"B-but why… why can't Harry be my daddy. I want Harry to be my daddy!"

"Harry's still going to be here. Don't worry. But your real daddy wants to spend time with you now. He wants to be… your friend. Like Victoire and Teddy. You know?"

She was quiet for a moment and Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Hermione gave him the what-do-I-say face and Harry shrugged.

"Is he going to live with us mummy?" she asked suddenly, her eyes wide as she looked at Hermione.

"No… of course not darling. He lives at his own house. You will be able to visit him there. "

"Oh…b-but what if he's scary mummy? What if he's mean and grumpy like Uncle Percy? What if he doesn't like kitties? Or unicorns?"

Hermione smiled nervously. "He's not going to be mean to you, Accalia. I promise I won't let him do that. I'm not so sure he likes unicorns, though."

"What does he look like?"

"Well, he has blonde hair and pale skin, just like you. He's very tall and skinny. And his eyes are gray, just like yours. You definitely look like him."

"Is he that man we were running away from in Diagon Alley?"

Hermione froze. How could she remember that? How did she know they were running away from him?

"Uhh, yes. He was in Diagon Alley when we were there that day."

"Why were we running away from him? Is he mean? He looked mean," she said, becoming more worried.

Hermione's brain was racing. How could she explain this to a four-year-old without making Malfoy look like a monster?

"Well, you see darling… Mal—your daddy was a little upset with mummy that day and I didn't want you to see us argue."

"Why was he upset?"

Shoot. She was never going to give up until she got her answer. She cursed herself for passing her inquisitive nature on to her daughter.

"Well… At the time, he didn't know about you. He didn't know he was your daddy, since mummy thought he was dead, so she never got to tell him. So he was a little upset to know that there had been a misunderstanding."

"What's a missumderstanding?"

"It's when… a person thinks the wrong thing about something. And they don't know it's wrong. You see, your daddy didn't know he had a daughter and your mummy didn't know your daddy was still alive. So we had a misunderstanding."

Accalia was silent again, her face full of confusion and agitation. Suddenly, she burst into tears again and buried her face into Hermione's chest as she sobbed.

"I-I-I w-want Haaarry to b-b-be my d-d-daddy," she cried.

* * *

Draco was pacing in his living room again. It was almost time for Granger to arrive with his daughter. He checked his watch nervously. It was 5:02. Time for Granger to be here. He'd been rehearsing what he was going to say in his mind. He'd never really spent much time around kids, so he wasn't very sure of what to expect. He just hoped she'd accept him easily into her life. He knew this was going to be the most difficult for her.

His thoughts were interrupted by a whoosh from the fireplace. There his daughter stood, right before his eyes, clinging to Granger tightly. He looked up at Granger's face to meet her unpleasant gaze. Her green eyes still got to him—still made his insides churn.

She looked down at the girl and said, "Darling, this is your father. Draco Malfoy."

She said nothing in response, but eyed him uneasily.

"Oh, don't be shy. Go over and introduce yourself, love."

She remained frozen at Granger's side. After a few moments, Granger pried the girl's hands off of her and pushed her toward him. He sensed he was intimidating her, so he squatted down to be eye level with her and tried to smile.

Finally, she said quietly, "Hi Mr. Mafloy, my name is Accalia Emily Granger."

Draco chuckled at her difficulty pronouncing his last name. "It's nice to meet you Accalia. But please don't call me Mr. Malfoy. It makes me sound like my father."

Accalia paused for a moment. "What should I call you then?"

Draco wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know if Dad would be appropriate just yet. "I would prefer if you called me Dad, but if you don't want to call me that, Draco is fine."

"Ok. I'll call you Draco. You see, Harry is my daddy so I don't think I should call you Dad."

Draco's nose scrunched up in disgust. He gave Granger an evil glare. Had she not explained to her that Potter was not her father? He'd have to have a word with her about this later.

Changing the subject, he said, "Would you like to see the house?" Accalia nodded in response and began walking toward the hallway. He started to follow her, but noticed Granger was still standing in front of the fireplace.

"Coming?" he asked awkwardly and she silently walked in the direction of her daughter. As he followed them into the hall, he heard a squeal of delight.

"Mummy! Look at this room! Its pink, my favorite color! And it has unicorns!"

Draco found his way to the doorway to the room he'd prepared for Accalia. Having no idea what little girls liked, he'd consulted Pansy. She said anything pink with unicorns would probably satisfy any little girl. So he purchased everything pink he could find in the Wizarding Homes catalogue and charmed the fabrics to have unicorns frolicking across them.

"How did you know she likes unicorns?" Granger said while watching her daughter skip around the room energetically.

"I didn't… I just asked a friend and she recommended this décor."

"You've really overdone it a bit," she said with a hint of sarcasm. She was probably right. The walls glittered with pink wallpaper and the ceiling was charmed to look like the sky. Then he had bought everything he could find that looked like it would interest a little girl. Of course, he had an elaborate canopy bed made for her, complete with dozens of enormous pillows and lacy frills. He'd also bought a vanity and an armoire to match. After that, he decided his daughter would need books, so he purchased a floor-to-ceiling bookcase and completely filled it up. He'd even got her a first-edition signed copy of the new Shaggy Motter book. He hadn't cheapened out on the toys either… he bought everything from dolls to stuffed animals to art supplies. He wanted to make sure his daughter had anything she could possibly want.

"Just wanted to be prepared," he replied.

"Mummy look!" Accalia shrieked as she pointed at the moving unicorns on the curtains.

"I see darling, that's very pretty."

"Do you like your room, Accalia?" Draco asked.

"This is _my_ room??" she said, her eyes widening.

"Yes it is."

"This is the best room ever, Draco!"

He smirked and inwardly congratulated himself at succeeding at his first parenting task: providing a living space. He hoped she liked the clothes he'd had made for her as well. He looked over to see Granger glaring at him.

"I hope this trend doesn't continue. I will not be raising a spoiled brat for a daughter."

"As a Malfoy, my daughter will have only the finest that life has to offer."

She sharpened her glare. "We will discuss this later," she said quietly.

After she had examined almost every item in the room, Accalia ran up to Draco and said, "Can I see the rest of the flat?"

"Of course you may. Follow me." He led them around the rest of his house, which consisted of two other bedrooms, and office, a large kitchen and dining area, and three bathrooms. He also had a balcony that overlooked the countryside.

They ended the tour back in the living room at the fireplace in silence. Draco eyed Hermione to silently suggest that it was time for her to leave. After a few moments, she got the message and sighed.

"Alright honey, I think it's time for me to go."

"Buy why, Mummy? I don't want you to go. Stay with me!"

"I can't, love. Remember what we talked about? This is the time for you and Draco to get to know each other." Tears began welling up in her eyes.

"Don't leave me, Mummy. I'm scared!" Accalia began whimpering.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, love. And mummy is just a floo away if you need anything." She bent down and hugged her daughter close. The tears were freely pouring down her cheeks now.

"Don't leave, M-mummy," she sobbed.

"You'll be alright. Draco has lots of nice toys for you to play with, remember?" she said as she held her to her chest. She didn't want her daughter to see her crying. She could feel her daughter nodding her head.

"And you all will have lots of fun together, ok?"

"Okay," she responded quietly.

"Accalia, if you need your mum we'll floo her immediately, ok?" Draco said, trying to reassure the child.

Hermione wiped her tears away and looked into her daughter's gray eyes.

"I love you, darling. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Love you too, Mummy. I'll miss you."

It took all of her will power to fight back the tears. "I'll miss you too, love."

Accalia walked over to Draco and said, "Can we play unicorns, Draco?"

"Yes we sure can," he replied, taking her hand and leading her down the hall. He looked over his shoulder and found Hermione still standing there, her cheeks drowning in tears. Their eyes met briefly, but she turned away to floo home.

* * *

"How old are you?" Accalia asked him suddenly, while they were sitting on the floor surrounded by unicorns.

Draco raised his eyebrow. "Twenty-two," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering. Mummy is twenty-two too," she replied.

Draco was a bit out of his element, to say the least. Not only had she been quizzing him ever since Hermione left, she'd also been teaching him how to play 'unicorns.' He was a bit uncomfortable, since he didn't have much experience with children or games they played. He didn't think he was doing too good of a job entertaining her. She was doing most of the talking and playing.

"Why did you go away," she asked, interrupting his thought.

He wrinkled his forehead as his eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? I haven't gone anywhere."

"Mummy said you went away before I was born. And that you didn't come back and she thought you were dead."

Draco was stunned for a minute. Granger told her that she thought he was dead? She obviously knew he survived the War. His family had been all over the papers during the trials.

"Um, well, you see, I had to leave your mum during the War because of my family. And I didn't know that she had you and she couldn't tell me, because it was a very dangerous time."

"But why didn't you come back after it wasn't dangerous no more?"

"Well I did. But I never saw your mum again."

"Why?"

Merlin, did this girl ever stop? She was definitely Granger's child. Always asking questions.

"I don't know why. It just never happened."

"Oh. Ok."

"I want you to know, Accalia, I'm very sorry that your mum and I had some problems and I wasn't a part of your life before. But I'm going to be here for you now. As your father."

"But Draco, Harry is my daddy."

"Well Harry may be your friend, but he's not your real father. I am your biological father."

"What's biolawgicul?"

"Er. It means that we have the same genes."

"What's jeens?"

Draco exhaled heavily. This parenting thing was wearing him out.

"They're tiny things in your body that you can't see which tell your body how to develop."

"Oh." She resumed playing with the purple unicorn on her lap.

He watched her play for a few moments quietly. Their resemblance was still shocking to him. She was a beautiful girl and would obviously continue the trend of good-looking Malfoys.

"Draco, I'm hungry. What are we having for dinner?"

"What would you like to eat?"

"Mac-n-cheese is my favorite. Can you make that? Mummy makes the best mac-n-cheese ever."

"Well I'm not much of a cook, but my house elf Winky can make just about anything you can think of."

"You have an elf?" she asked, a hint of shock in her voice.

"Yes. She's been my elf since I was your age."

"Mummy said having house elfs is wrong. That they should frees."

Draco sighed inwardly. He was grossly unprepared for what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

Coming up next: Hermione and Draco have a serious talk.

¡Besos!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello readers! Glad to finally be back. As I think I have mentioned before, I recently graduated (woohoo!) and then had surgery so I've been out of commission for a while. I hope you enjoy this chapter and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Thanks to Slythindor Complex, IGOTEAMEDWARD, alina290, and Ellesmere for reviewing! I really hope some of you who favorited/alerted will review this time. Review question: What is your favorite part of summer?

On with the show!

* * *

Draco was exhausted when Hermione came to pick up Accalia the next evening. He recalled the night before in his mind. After bedtime, he was happy to retire to his room to give his ears a break. She had bombarded him endlessly with questions. But less than an hour later, he's heard a quiet knock at his door and found her standing outside his room with a stuffed unicorn, saying she was scared of the dark.

_(that night)_

"Draco I can't sleep. I'm scawred," she said nervously.

He sighed and walked a few steps backward to let her into his room. It was quite a large room, decorated in silver tones. A round, king-sized canopy bed sat in the middle of the room and two doorways to the left led to his walk-in closet and bathroom.

"Why are you scared?"

"I think there is some monsters under the bed in my new room."

"I can assure you there are no such creatures in any house of mine."

"Can I sleep in here with yoow? Puhleees? Mummy lets me sleep with her when I get scawred."

There was no way he could resist her charms. He conjured up a small bed for her and levitated it next to his bed. He threw a few pillows from his bed onto hers and looked to her for her approval.

"Is this suitable for you?"

"Yes, thanks. Can you check for monsters under your bed?"

He lifted up the dust ruffle and shined his wand under it.

"It's all clear. No monsters, I promise."

He helped her into her bed and tucked the covers over her.

"Goodnight Accalia."

"Nighty night," she responded.

(_present_)

Hermione greeted Accalia with great enthusiasm. She had obviously struggled with leaving her child alone with Draco.

"How was your night with Ma—Draco, darling?"

"Good mummy. I gotted scared last night but he let me sleep in his room and protected me from the monsters."

She looked up and silently thanked him for being understanding with her silly frights.

"Well that's good to hear, love. Could you go play in your room while Draco and I talk for a minute?"

"Ok, Mummy."

After she had made it out of earshot, Hermione said, "We need to discuss a few things."

"I agree," Draco responded.

"First, I know that this is your first parental experience, but you really can't give Accalia everything she ever wants. Her room is a bit… too lavish for a child. She needs to learn moderation and frugality."

"My daughter will have the best life has to offer her. She's a Malfoy."

"Malfoy or not, she will not be a spoiled brat."

"Well I had a 'lavish' childhood, as you would say, and I turned out just fine."\

She snorted. "Just fine? The first thing that comes to mind when someone says 'Draco Malfoy' is spoiled brat."

"Look I realize your muggle upbringing was probably subpar to the Malfoy standard, but you will not be inflicting such conditions on _my_ child."

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "Ok well we obviously have different ideas on parenting, but we can't just keep fighting. We need to come to a compromise. Take back some of the toys. And please, don't buy her every single thing she'll ask you for. You can buy her some nice things… just don't be excessive please."

"Fine. I will try to not be _excessive_," Draco drawled.

"Thank you," she responded, gritting her teeth.

"Why did you tell her I was dead?" he asked suddenly, trying to keep his temper in check.

She was silent for a while, not knowing how to respond.

"I-I-I didn't know what to tell her. She's so young. It's hard for her to understand," she said finally.

"So you told her I was _dead_. Dead! "

"You were a _Death Eater_, Malfoy. I was looking out for the safety of myself and my child."

He was fuming. "So it's perfectly acceptable to _lie_ to your child to keep her father away from her?"

"When she's too young to understand the truth it is! And I certainly doubt you would've been so eager to claim a mudblood child while you were traipsing around England with Voldemort."

"Don't call her that!"

"You called me that name for years, Malfoy. YEARS! "

They were both silent, staring each other down with menace in their eyes. Malfoy could see tears welling up in her green eyes. He decided to change the subject to another matter they needed to discuss.

"Well I've had my lawyer draw up the paperwork for her name change."

"Name change? Why would she need her name changed?"

"She's a Malfoy. She will carry the Malfoy name."

"That's rubbish. She has a perfectly good name and you're not going to change it."

"She's a Malfoy."

"I don't care."

"I do."

"Well _I_ carried her around in _my_ body for nine months, _birthed_ her, and have been raising her ever since. She's going to keep _my_ name."

"That is not customary."

"I don't give a bloody damn about customary! You haven't been a customary father. Your name is hardly worthy for her."

"How dare you…"

"Mummy," Accalia said softly as she appeared in the hallway.

They both looked away from each other, the tension in the room finally breaking.

"Yes darling?"

"Why are you and Draco fighting?"

"We're not fighting, honey. We were just talking about some things."

"You sounded angry. I was scawred."

"Love, I'm sorry. There's nothing to be afraid of. Everything is fine." Hermione looked up at Draco, scolding him with her emerald eyes.

Draco's heart sank. He shouldn't have gotten so irritated with Granger while Accalia was around. The poor girl had enough to deal with. His grey eyes met her smaller ones and he could see that she was visibly shaken.

"I think it's time we head home," Hermione said.

"Alright. Can I have a hug, Accalia?" She walked over to him and he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up.

After kissing her forehead he said, "I'll see you next week, okay?"

"Okay, Draco," she responded.

He put her back on the floor and she ran over to Hermione. They walked to the floo, where she waved bye to him and Hermione called out their destination. In a flash, they were both gone.

* * *

A few days later, Draco received a letter from his lawyer, informing him that Granger had rejected his petition for a name change. That twat. He was not going to just let this go.

Quickly, his mind was distracted by work again. He had been meeting with clients all day and he had more contracts to review before he could go home and relax. The hours passed by slowly, but at 6 he'd finally finished his work and flooed back to his flat. He was greeted by the usual silence and stillness that he encountered every day from work. After Accalia left his flat a few days ago, he had welcomed the quietness. She was quite a handful. But now he was longing for her return. Her laughter gave his apartment a warmth it didn't usually have. However, he was struggling with his newly forced relationship with Granger. They obviously had some serious anger issues with each other. But he couldn't get past what she did. She lied to him and her daughter. That was unforgivable.

He did think he should try to make some peace with her though. Apologize for the years of torment he inflicted upon her. And for calling her that _word_. Incessantly. Accalia was noticing the strain between them and it wasn't good for her. He wanted to get off to the best start he could with her, so he decided he was willing to try and make things less odious between them. He decided he'd try and talk to her at the custody meeting at the Ministry the next week.

* * *

Hermione and Harry were at the park, enjoying the sunny afternoon with Accalia. While she played in the sandbox, Hermione and Harry sat on a nearby bench, talking about the upcoming custody meeting.

"He tried to have her name changed to Malfoy," Hermione said.

"Are you serious? What did you do?" Harry responded with concern.

"I had to approve the change for it to be legal and I rejected it."

"Bloody hell. Why does he think he can just suddenly invade her life?"

"I guess he's just trying to make up for lost time…"

"Are you sticking up for him?" Harry's voice became alarmed.

"NO! Of course not. I just… I don't know. I can see where he's coming from. This isn't easy for him either."

"That's his own fault."

"I don't know, Harry. It is partially my fault. We lied, and it wasn't just a white lie. It was a BIG lie. If the situation were reversed, I'd be upset too."

"We did the right thing, Hermione. We had to protect Accalia."

"I know, Harry, I know. But I have to let him into our lives now. And the bitterness between us is blatantly obvious to Accalia. It will be better for her and us if I can try and relate to him. Try and let go of some anger."

"I suppose you're right. But you can't let him control your life. You need to set some firm boundaries with him."

"I know. I managed to get him to promise he wouldn't buy her everything she wants. I wish you could've seen all the stuff he bought for her room. Extravagant is putting it lightly."

"Typical Malfoy lifestyle, I suppose. I doubt his parents ever told him no."

Silence fell over them as they watched Accalia build a sand castle. She was struggling with keeping the castle from disintegrating when she moved to get more sand. She furrowed her eyebrows in frustration and Harry chuckled.

"So how is she adjusting to Malfoy? Has she said anything about him?"

"She told me all about spending the night at his house. You know how she loves to talk."

"Did she say anything negative about him?"

"No. I even asked and made sure that she was totally comfortable with him. She seems to like him, except for the fact that he has a house elf."

Harry laughed.

"She was highly distraught about the situation, but she said she really liked Winky and that she made some macaroni for her. I think I'll bring S.P.E.W. up next time I see Malfoy. Maybe suggest he give her wages and vacation."

"That'll sure help the bitterness between you. Are you ready for the meeting on Tuesday?"

"I guess. It can't be worse than the custody hearing."

"Probably true."

"But I don't know how to prepare Accalia for it. I don't know what to expect, so I don't know what to tell her to expect. The anticipation is getting to my nerves."

"I think a ministry official will just talk to her for a few minutes, to feel out how the new arrangement is working."

"Yea… "She sighed.

Harry put his hand around her shoulder. "It'll be fine, Hermione. Don't worry too much about it. "

* * *

Tuesday morning came more quickly than Hermione had hoped. She stood in the social services office on the third floor of the Ministry with Accalia in hand. Malfoy hadn't arrived yet.

"Mummy, I don't want to go back there by myself. Can't you come with me?"

"Unfortunately I can't, love. They need to talk to you by yourself. I promise they will be very nice though. There's nothing to be afraid of here, darling."

At that moment, Malfoy walked into the waiting room.

"Hello Accalia. Gra-Hermione," he nodded.

"Hi Draco," Accalia said quietly.

"She's a little nervous about meeting with a Ministry official by herself," Hermione said, trying to have an amiable conversation with Malfoy.

"I see," he replied. "Well I can assure you that if you are not treated like a princess, I will have the heads of everyone in this office."

"Malfoy!"

"Only joking. But really, Accalia, you don't have to worry about anything. They will be perfectly nice to you."

Interrupting their conversation, a woman in dark robes came from the back room.

"Malfoy and Granger?" she asked the trio.

"Yes," Hermione and Draco said at the same time.

"Hi, I'm Suzanne Kinser. I'll need to speak to you all, separately. But first, I would like to talk to Miss Accalia. Would you like to come back here with me," she said sweetly while looking Accalia in the eye.

Accalia hesitated and gripped her mum tighter.

"I've got a jar of Chocolate Frogs you can pick from."

Suddenly, Accalia was trotting over to Ms. Kinser, all inhibitions cast aside by the enticement of a treat.

"We'll be back in a few minutes," Ms. Kinser said to Hermione and Draco. They were left alone in the waiting room, aside from the secretary who was busy scribbling on a piece of parchment.

The awkward silence persisted for a few minutes, until Draco decided to break the ice.

"Granger."

"Yes?"

"I, uh, wanted to… apologize. For the way I treated you back at Hogwarts."

Hermione met his gaze with her green eyes, but said nothing.

He said nothing either, waiting for her to respond. The awkwardness quickly returned so she said, "Ok."

"Look, this isn't very easy for me… Apologies aren't something that comes with my winning personality, but I'm trying to lessen the strain between us so Accalia isn't uncomfortable around us. I'm truly sorry for my childishness and rude behavior during our past and I hope that you can forgive me."

"Alright."

Silence.

"Were you expecting something more?"

"Well, to be honest, yes. While the way you taunted me in school was childish and rude, the way you abandoned me after the, er, relationship we formed was much more than childish behavior. It was devastating. Cruel. Unforgivable. You wouldn't even listen to me long enough for me to tell you I was pregnant."

He looked into her emerald eyes for a moment and said, "You're right. I was obstinate and nasty toward you. It wasn't the right way to handle the situation. But you have to understand; I was under immense pressure as a Death Eater. My life and my family's lives were at stake. And I had to put distance between us or you would've been targeted. As if being Potter's best friend wasn't enough of a death warrant. I did what I thought was best at the time and I'm sorry things turned out this way. I don't expect you to forgive me. But perhaps, you could hate me a bit less?" He smirked devilishly.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Perhaps."

The awkward silence resumed until Ms. Kinser returned with Accalia.

"I will need to speak to you two individually now. Which of you would like to go first?"

"I will," Draco said before Hermione could get a sound out of her mouth.

"Alright. I'll be back for you shortly, Ms. Granger."

As Draco and Ms. Kinser disappeared, Hermione turned her attention to Accalia.

"How did it go, darling? Was it as bad as you thought it would be?"

"No, Mummy! Mizz Kinzzer was sooo nice and she gave me a Chawcolate Frog!"

"What did you two talk about?"

"She asked me about Draco and if I liked him."

"And what did you tell her?" Hermione hoped she could fish some info out of her.

"I towld her that Draco was nice to me and protected me from the monsters. And he has lots of unicorns to play with."

"I see. So you didn't have anything…not so good to say about Draco?"

"Nope!" she said brightly.

Hermione sighed inwardly. She'd hoped Draco had screwed up a bit so the Ministry wouldn't be tempted to give him any more time with her. Although she was surprised by his apology, she still wasn't happy with the situation he had put them in and didn't want to give up any more time with her daughter. She was used to being a full-time mum.

After a bit more waiting, it was Hermione's turn with Ms. Kinser. She led her back into her office which housed a large mahogany desk and a plush red couch. Hermione sat down on the couch and waited for Ms. Kinser to collect her paperwork.

"Alright, Ms. Granger. I just have a few questions for you. To start with, let's talk about your relationship with Mr. Malfoy. I understand that he was unaware until recently that you two had a child?"

"Yes. As I explained to the Wizengamot, Malfoy was a Death Eater during the time of my pregnancy and I thought it best to separate myself and my child from him to protect our lives. However, I did try to tell him before he left Hogwarts to join Voldemort during the War, but he was unwilling to listen to me."

"So you kept the parentage of your child a secret and raised her on your own?"

"Sort of. Eventually I had to tell people something and Harry offered to be her father. We told everyone she was our child."

"I see. So during and after your pregnancy, you had no contact with Mr. Malfoy?"

"No."

"And did Mr. Malfoy try and make contact with you?"

"No."

"Do you think this lack of contact was due to resentment you had built up during and after the War?"

"Well, yea. He abandoned me and our child." Hermione was beginning to get annoyed.

"Alright. So is it accurate to say that you and Mr. Malfoy don't have a functional relationship."

"That's pretty accurate."

"Well, as your assigned social worker, I'm required to not only monitor the custody situation with the three of you, but also help you and Mr. Malfoy develop a co-parenting relationship."

"I hardly need his help with parenting. I've been raising Accalia just fine without him."

"While that may be true, Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy is going to be a part of Accalia's life whether you like it or not. He _is_ her father."

"I _know_ he is her father, but it's only in the biological sense. He's hardly a suitable parent for Accalia. Harry has been a wonderful father figure in her life and he will continue to do so. I will concede Malfoy his few rights, but we will not be co-parenting. She stays with him one night a week. That's it." Hermione was beginning to think Ms. Kinser was taking sides.

"Ms. Granger, I'm not trying to offend you. But you and Mr. Malfoy are going to have to come to an agreement on how to raise Accalia. Sending mixed messages from two parents will confuse her and hinder her obedience toward one of you."

"Malfoy and I have discussed a few things… but we can't seem to agree on much."

"Yes, I gathered that from talking to him. As I suggested to him, I think you two are both going to have to make compromises. He told me he conceded to your demands that he not spoil Accalia. I think you should take some time to think about some compromises you could make, as well. This could help you and Mr. Malfoy be on better terms."

"I have been thinking about that a bit. I know it will be best if he and I can have an amiable relationship. Accalia notices the animosity between us."

"Please just try and think about what is best for your daughter. Next week you can let me know about the compromises you and he come up with."

"Alright." Hermione was ready to end this meeting. She didn't need this woman preaching to her.

"Ok, Ms. Granger. We're all done until next week!" Her chipper attitude returned.

"See you next week," Hermione said as she left the office to collect her daughter.

She walked out into the waiting room to find Malfoy entertaining Accalia with his wand. He was transfiguring his tie into different colors.

"Ready to go, love?"

"Yes, Mummy."

Hermione took her by the arm and began leading her toward the floo network outside the office.

"Bye, Draco!" Accalia called as they walked out the door.

* * *

Up next: Draco and Hermione try to compromise again and Harry and Draco have a confrontation.


End file.
